A Daily Purpose

Bible Study & Devotional

Guiding Scripture: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain, you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to[a] those he loves.” (Psalm 127:1-2, NIV)

🔴 Who’s Building Your House?

At the time of this writing, my family is in the process of building our first home. So far, the whole thing has been an exciting and rewarding—albeit slightly overwhelming—process. Even though I’ve done my fair share of research about what to expect, I continue to be amazed by how many details are involved in every step of the journey.

Recently, we met with our loan processor, who went over what felt like a neverending list of documents that we needed to submit before our closing date. A day later, we met with the field manager who will be overseeing construction, and she reviewed the blueprints of our home with us in painstaking detail. While those of you who have built a home before know that these types of meetings are par for the course, this is all new for us, and I have to admit that at times it feels like my head is spinning.

Now that I’ve given you some context, imagine for a second how devastating it would be if we went through the entire building process, only to have the house fall apart on closing day.

Perish the thought, right?

Imagine all the excitement of choosing your layout, lovingly picking out the finishings, and getting the keys, all to wind up with nothing but a pile of rubble by the end. All that hard work and money spent for nothing but frustration and bitter disappointment.

It sounds like a nightmare, yet thousands of Christians worldwide live their lives just like that. We build careers, bank accounts, and entire families without any input from the Master Builder, our Heavenly Father. Then we wonder why our lives seem to amount to little more than a heap of rubble. The sad reality is that many of us have built our houses in vain, without seeking our spiritual “blueprints” for direction (the Bible) or consulting with God about His perfect design.

Fortunately, we don’t have to make these mistakes over and over. We can turn back to God at any time, repent, and ask Him for help. Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us clear directions for what we should do: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Although we may be tempted to cling to our plans, we must continuously align them with God’s, trusting that His plans are always better than ours. It is only when we allow Him to direct us that we find true rest and peace.

Who’s building your house? Is it God, or is it you?

~Lisa C. Gant

LISA C. GANT: CEO & Founder of Purpose Without Apology, the Podcast. Tune in for weekly podcasts and connect with Lisa on Instagram. Visit www.lisacgant.com for more information.

This devotional was submitted by Lisa C. Gant, a loving contributor to Our Given Purpose. Edited by Torrie Slaughter the founder of Our Given Purpose® in the Commonwealth of Virginia.